The man was spotted by Royal Borough of Greenwich parks staff driving his truck onto the playing field at Hervey Road, SE3 on the evening of Friday 4 August.

They called the police straight away who quickly arrived to find the young man fly-tipping rubbish onto the site from his Ford Transit.

The man - 22 year old Anthony Lawrence of no fixed abode - was immediately arrested and later charged and found guilty of illegally dumping waste.

He was fined £400 and ordered to pay £85 towards court costs as well an additional £40 surcharge.

On the same day of the offence, the Royal Borough took swift action to remove the illegal traveller encampment at Hervey Road by serving a notice to evict the occupants; they left within 72 hours.

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'Fly-tippers will pay a serious price for their actions'

Councillor Jackie Smith, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Environment, said "This was great work by our staff who acted really quickly to help catch this man, as did the police who arrived hastily to catch the man in the act.

"From seizing unlicensed vehicles being used to carry waste to issuing the highest fines possible, the message is clear, the Royal Borough of Greenwich will make sure fly-tippers will pay a serious price for their actions."

'Firmest possible action on fly-tipping'

Borough Commander Simon Dobinson added "The close partnership between the Metropolitan Police and the Royal Borough allows us to take the firmest possible action on fly-tipping and other environmental crimes.

"Too often fly-tippers think that the only consequence of their behaviour will be a fine and slap on the wrist; the action we took at Hervey Road shows that this is definitely not the case. Where a fly-tipper is caught by the Police, they are likely to be arrested and charged with a criminal offence."